The family of a Kentish Town man killed by a “dangerous and reckless” driver said they will “never forgive” the driver responsible for the hit and run accident.
Alistair McWilliams is today facing almost 13 years in prison today over the crash which took place when he was “drunk out his nut” and in a stolen car.
Driving a Nissan Primera, he struck pensioner Richard Docherty in in the early hours of August 23 this year, after smashing through the front garden wall of a home on Leighton Road in Kentish Town.
He was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in jail, and also given four and a half behind bars (to run concurrently) for an unrelated burglary, which saw him steal £100,000 worth of jewellery from TV magician Dynamo’s Hampstead home in May.
Mr Docherty died in hospital from head injuries just over a week later.
CCTV released by the Crown Prosecution Service shows McWilliams speeding around the Kentish Town area on the morning in question.
In Mr Docherty’s family’s victim impact statement, they said: “Alistair McWilliams showed no mercy, humanity or compassion when he left our dad in the street with catastrophic injuries, alone and dying.
“Any remorse that Alistair McWilliams claims to have is for purely selfish and self-serving reasons. Our family will never forgive Alistair McWilliams for what he has done and for the pain and suffering that he caused our dad, and continues to cause our family.”
As he was was sentenced at the Old Bailey, McWilliams was also disqualified from driving for 12 years and five months from his release.
He had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by driving whilst uninsured, causing death by driving whilst unlicensed and failing to stop after a road traffic collision.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Cath Carrie said: “McWilliams stole a car a mere three days before dangerously joyriding through the streets of north London.
“When he was arrested he told police officers that he had been ‘drunk out his nut’. McWilliams’ prolonged, persistent and deliberate course of very bad driving ultimately led to loss of a life.”
McWilliams had three teenage girls in the car at the time of the crash, all of whom were arrested but later released.
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